Rain arrived
And stayed
Is gently coming down for a few more days still.
Wonderful to experience from the comfort of my home;
Water pooling in the water garden
Filtering down
Water table raising
Plants thriving in the wetland;
Seeds sprouted in the vegetable box beds
Growing, growing, growing
Every day I see more green leaf extending…
For those wanting to travel,
To move home,
It’s not so grand
When rain into flash floods turns
Into hazards on roads converts.
For the shelter-less
No fun this is
No blessing seen
Only wet cold experienced
As curse too;
In some instances,
as judgement…
It all depends on one’s circumstances
And what one focuses on:
The unremitting wet where nothing dries
Or the blessing of water to see us through another year…
Patience it calls for
And reaching out to those for whom the rain is too much
Threatening life and livelihood
For those who in the outdoors live and work…
As I write
the rain has stopped
birds are chirping
while in the background clouds are filling up with moisture
are gathering for another burst.
At a practical level
This is a time to adjust to unpredictable weather
By investing in technologies that earth friendlier are
Technologies simpler,
Technologies independent of the great big grids
Technologies that serve one’s own needs
And no-one else’s;
With an eye on the future
Attention to one’s neighbourhood,
For sharing resources costs reduce;
Costs eco
Costs social
Costs material
Costs in general…
I often wondered why some people fail to understand this
Refuse to see that loving life
Spills over into caring for all life;
I am reading
The Choice by Edith Eger
Who the answer to my question may have answered:
Auschwitz hell was designed by highly educated scientists
Men whose hearts were set on scientific tests carrying out;
They tested their theories of eugenics
On people they considered sub-human…
The shadow side of science
Of technologies that science aids
Regardless of the cost to human beings
Regardless of the effect on earth’s creatures
Actions carried out with malicious intent,
Arrogance,
And competitiveness,
No sense of God within,
in them exists
At least not of the God of Abraham
Of Isaac
And Jacob
No sense of the God beyond all things
Beyond the material;
No sense of God within:
Indwelling spirit
Just a grasping for power for its own sake
Not for power linked to meaningfulness
To love
To mercy
To compassion
My own senses dull are too
When compared to a friend’s
Whose appreciation for all creatures sometimes exasperates me
Impractical
Sentimental;
Sometimes I think she’d willingly give up her life
That a lizard might live
It’s taken many conversations
And observations close up
To begin to appreciate
that what she objects to is cruelty
Failure to anticipate harm
Failure to do one’s best to avoid it;
A lizard drowned in a container of water this week
As did a frog some months back
And she’d suggested I add some rocks to such containers
So that these small creatures can make their way to safety
To a ledge above the water
For carelessness a form of violence is…
I did not do it;
Instead I had left containers right side up
To catch as much water as possible
Gave no thought to the lizards that share this space with me
For there are many lizards on my property;
The death of one
Is no big deal
Just nature doing its thing…
At a conscious level
This is not what I thought
Yet perhaps this callousness is within;
Indeed, I know it is,
For I was raised in a sub-culture
That is dismissive of animal rights
At least, at the level of my friend’s awareness
of creatures in urban spaces
being dependent on human kindness…
For spaces where they can thrive
With resources that help them continue to sustain themselves
Through careful attention to ecological integrity
And to natural resources available making…
Her time with me has reminded me of a green infrastructure
That preserves nature in urban spaces
And adds to these.
This rain has turned her plans topsy-turvy
For she is on her way to start a new life;
A life she has spent years preparing for
A life in service of sustainability
For people who have only the resources around them to work with,
Yet a guide require to see discarded things with eyes new
Witnesses become to how ‘rubbish’ can be repurposed…
For animals:
Her own thirteen pets,
Domesticated farm animals,
And animals in the wild still…
Caring,
With intelligence,
With permaculture knowledge,
With practical know-how is what she holds within
As gifts
To be used to take care of herself
And of those who dependent on her are
A model that others might mimic,
Or not,
For her way is respectful;
Work with those who want to work with you
Is one of the twelve principles of permaculture;
Imposition,
Like proselytization,
A form of violence is.
Do I proselytize?
Even though I despise it?
Even though I have never enjoyed people imposing their will
Or their views on me?
Do I proselytize?
I think I do.
Call it marketing these days?
Or networking?
The campaign for a blue, blue earth?
Is this perhaps why the Jewish soul within me was activated?
For if a proselytizer in me dwells
Its time I made peace with him
Carefully chosen for me this spiritual path was:
The only thing I may, as a Jewish soul, advocate for
Work to convert the masses to is
The Noahide Code
As James the Just wanted
For the gentiles are God created
And God supported
Only Jews,
Jewish are meant to be;
Part of the diversity that God created
And declared good
This God-given Torah,
Wisdom Judaic,
Proselytizing Paul overrode;
The path of his ancestors set aside in favour of a messianic age
That did not arrive as he expected it to.
And the world messed up?
As do I when asleep I am?
When care-less?